


The Prince and the Mer

by shnuffeluv



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Boats and Ships, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Kidnapping, Plot Twists, ask to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: Roman is swimming in the ocean one day when he comes across a crown sinking in the water. Just who might this crown belong to? And what trouble is it going to drag him into?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Comments: 31
Kudos: 71





	The Prince and the Mer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/gifts).



Roman was swimming through the ocean near the surface, admiring the way the sun left patterns on the crest of the waves. It felt good to stretch his fins after so much time spent lying still on bed rest; that fisherman's hook had done a number on his tail.

But now his tail was healed and he was free to explore the water again.

Going a little deeper, letting the cold envelop Roman, he spotted something sparkling in the water. He swam forward, eager to see what it was. It was too deep to be another hook, at least.

He pulled up short when he saw what it was. A crown, covered in purple and black jewels, the metal looking like silver. He gingerly reached out to touch it, and pulled it to his chest. This looked like something from the humans. But what human would throw away a crown like this?

In the distance, there was a small ship and Roman swam towards it, crown in hand. He caught up quickly, head sticking up to the surface, hair getting plastered to his forehead as he got into the air. There was a human peering over the side of the boat, and he yelped when Roman surfaced. "Sorry!" Roman exclaimed as the man returned. He couldn't be much older than Roman was, he looked like he had just gotten out of school, perhaps. "Is this yours?" he asked, holding up the crown.

The man's eyes widened. "Yes! You found it?"

"Over that way," Roman said, pointing.

"Thank you," the man said. "May I have it back?"

"Of course," Roman said, passing it back to the man.

"Your Highness, what are you doing?!" an unfamiliar voice snapped.

The man stood up straight and scowled at the other man. "Retrieving the crown that _you_ threw into the water."

"I did not know it was yours," the other man said stiffly. "And how would you have retrieved it? It was early this morning before the wind died down that it went overboard."

The first man merely pointed at Roman, and the second peered over the side. "A mer?!" the man spat. "Your Highness, you know better than to affiliate with _their kind!"_

Roman hissed at the second man, who backed up in surprise before calling, "Cast the nets, men! We have a mer on the aft!"

"Hey, no!" the first man yelled.

Roman's blood ran cold, and he hurried to swim away. But the men on this ship were skillful in where they threw their nets, and soon Roman was entangled and dragged back to the ship.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" the first man exclaimed.

Roman was dragged up onto the ship, and his stomach sank. He knew that the second he was on the floor of the ship, they would find out.

They released him from the net and tossed him onto the deck, and his tail transformed back into those cursed human legs, which he had never learned to walk with.

"Eh?!" one of the sailors asked. "Mers don't have legs!"

The second man from before got a glint in his eye as Roman tried to push himself up. "They do if they're a half-breed," he spat.

The first man slapped the second. "Stop referring to him like an animal!" he demanded, putting the crown on his head. "I am still in charge of you, Captain. This may be your ship, but it belongs to _my_ kingdom! Treat this man with respect!"

The man walked over. "I am terribly sorry for his behavior," he said softly. "My name is Virgil. May I ask yours?"

"Roman," Roman said, successfully pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Captain, fetch Roman some clothes, will you?" Virgil asked the Captain with a scowl.

The Captain snarled and left and Virgil sat down next to Roman. "Where do you hail from?"

"The South Islands," Roman said. "That is where my mother birthed me, at any rate. When she died, my father and...and I moved further out to sea to avoid the people there hunting us down. They always believe that we are the reason any human there dies." He almost spoke Remus' name, but he knew he couldn't. Not with so many people around, not when they would go out and look for Remus to kill him.

"The South Islands, eh? Awfully beautiful there," Virgil said simply.

"It is," Roman agreed.

The captain came back and tossed clothes at Roman, which he deftly grabbed and began to pull onto himself.

"Your Highness, we should take him back to our kingdom. A half-breed like him is a threat, but if we can bring him to our side he could be highly valuable," the Captain said.

"I'm sure he'd be more endeared to you if you treated him less like an animal and more like an actual person," Virgil said dryly. "I agree we need to take him back to our kingdom, but he will not be used as a weapon against other kingdoms, is that clear? He's _mine."_

The captain scowled, but nodded. "Of course, Your Highness."

As Roman finished putting the pants on his useless legs, Virgil picked him up under the arms and knees. "I'll be taking him to my cabin," Virgil hissed. "Don't lay a finger on him without my say-so, are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir," the Captain snarled.

As Virgil nodded and moved away from the cabin, Roman heard him mutter, "Royal brat." Judging by the way Virgil's grip tightened, he had heard it too.

“You needn’t have done that, you know,” Roman said.

“Hm?” Virgil asked.

“Defended me. You didn’t have to,” Roman said.

“I know,” Virgil said, walking through a door leading to a small but cushy room. “I don’t agree with most people’s treatment of mermaids such as yourself. You should be allowed to go where you wish, without worry about being captured, or used as crude entertainment. You are just as much a person as any human on this ship.”

“You’re awfully kind,” Roman said as Virgil placed Roman on the bed.

Virgil smiled slightly. “The fact that you consider basic human decency kind is honestly somewhat worrying to me.”

Roman laughed, strained. “I don’t think it’s that bad, truly. After all, I’ve seen many of my kind after they interact with yours. Humans are a cruel race, and kindness is rare. I think it should be celebrated in all forms, no matter how small.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Virgil reluctantly said. “But I still think that basic human decency should be allotted to everyone, human or otherwise.”

Roman smiled. “You, sir, are of a very rare breed,” he said simply.

“I know,” Virgil laughed. “I am a prince, after all.”

“Not in that sense,” Roman said with a little chuckle himself. “You’re genuinely kind. I wouldn’t expect that from anyone, let alone a human I had just met. You saved me from the brutes of this ship, and I can’t thank you enough.”

“Yeah, well, don’t thank me just yet,” Virgil said. “Because they’ll be reporting you to my father when we get back to shore. I don’t know what we might be able to do to convince them not to lock you up, or use you in a war, but I do hope that you can maintain your freedom.”

“Even if I were to never go back home under the sea, I would rather be free than kept as a slave,” Roman said with sincerity. “Even if I were to never see my friends and family again. I want to be myself, whoever that may be. And I may not know who that is for certain yet, but I certainly want to try and find out.”

Virgil looked at Roman in shock, before he got a set in his jaw. “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you retain that freedom,” Virgil said. “Now, the captain will feel obligated to report that you’re a merman. We’ll just have to convince him otherwise.”

“And how would we do that?” Roman asked. “It’s pretty obvious the second you throw me into water that I’m a merman.”

“Ah, but he won’t want to throw you into water for fear of you swimming away. I know this man, have known him most of my life. And he’s not the type to risk a disadvantage like that. He’ll want to say that because you weren’t on the roster and because you can’t walk, that we picked you up in the middle of the sea,” Virgil said, a glint in his eye.

Roman failed to understand the upside of this. “So he’s just going to ensure that I get locked up and we can’t do anything about it? Because there’s no way he’ll just let you add me to the roster, I don’t even remember what my last name might be!”

“No,” Virgil said. “We get you to walk.”

Roman looked at Virgil like he may as well have grown a second head. “What?” he sputtered. “But I don’t know how to walk! I crawled into the sea and my tail formed, and I never looked back to land!”

“I figured as much,” Virgil said. “So will the captain. But I can teach you to walk. These are my private quarters, and no one comes in without my permission, not even the captain. I’ll keep you in here, for your own safety, and we can teach you to walk before we get to land. We have at least a couple days before we return to my kingdom, and the captain won’t risk you getting snatched up by anyone else. Even if you can only walk with a cane, the captain will be disproven, and you can walk free.”

Roman stared. “And you would…let me? Go free?”

“Of course, if that is what you wish,” Virgil said. “You are allowed as much respect and dignity as anyone else. I will not sit by and watch you be insulted just because you have a tail normally instead of two legs.”

Roman swallowed. “That is very kind of you, sir. Thank you.”

“No need to call me sir,” Virgil laughed. “You’re not strictly a part of my kingdom, or any human kingdom, I can’t demand anything of you. Feel free to call me Virgil. It’s been too long since anyone has done something as mundane as that.”

“Okay…Virgil,” Roman said hesitantly. When Virgil grinned, Roman smiled shyly back. The kind prince was charming. Roman wasn’t sure if he liked the man or not, but he knew that he might be willing to stick around after he was let go just to talk to Virgil more freely.

“So, I can get my lunch and we can split it, and we can see if you can stand. You have to be able to stand before you can walk,” Virgil said definitively.

Roman nodded and Virgil pat Roman’s leg before leaving the room. Roman heard the crisp, clear order of Virgil’s: “No one is allowed in that room without my permission, are we clear? Not to deal with anything, or _anyone._ That includes Roman.”

There was just the sound of the waves against the boat and the gentle swaying of the boat itself for a while after that, and it lulled Roman into a light sleep. He startled awake when the door to Virgil’s room closed. “My apologies,” Virgil said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No harm done,” Roman said simply. “I’d much rather eat than sleep anyway.”

Virgil offered Roman a smile and brought his plate over, offering Roman half of the fish on it. “I don’t know what you normally eat,” Virgil said apologetically. “And as we’re on the last legs of our trip, we only have so much food remaining.”

Roman took an experimental bite of the fish and hummed. “It’s not bad!” he declared. “I usually eat fish raw but this is good, too.”

“I’m glad,” Virgil said with a little grin. “I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”

“No, I’m not much of a picky eater,” Roman laughed. “I’ll try just about anything once.”

Virgil laughed. “That sounds an awful lot like some of my more adventurous friends. I wish I could be as brave as them, but I always have to be cautious as a prince.”

Roman bit his lip. “That cannot be easy,” he said simply.

“Yeah, it’s not,” Virgil sighed. “Still, I don’t get much right to complain. After all, being a prince has its perks, too. Not many of my friends would get to travel all around the Mediterranean just because they felt like it.”

“The Mediterranean?” Roman asked.

“The sea we’re currently in. Did you not know its name?”

“I was unaware that’s what the humans called it nowadays,” Roman said simply.

“We should probably educate you on some basic human customs, as well, so we make sure the captain can’t trap you with any questions that most humans could answer,” Virgil said, nibbling the pad of his thumb. “Okay. We can do that. I can teach you. I’m pretty sure, at any rate.”

“That ‘pretty sure’ does not fill me with confidence,” Roman weakly joked.

“I know,” Virgil sighed. “If Logan were here, this would be much easier. He loves teaching people. But he’s not, and I have no way to get him here before we return home. So you’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t mind,” Roman said. “I just hope you can do what it takes to convince your father I’m actually human.”

“Well, let’s start by trying to get you to stand,” Virgil said, finishing his lunch and standing up. “Grab my hands?”

Roman complied and Virgil pulled him up onto his feet. “Woah!” Roman exclaimed. He would have fallen right back onto the bed if Virgil weren’t holding him. He could feel the pitching of the boat underneath him and he felt really disoriented. “This is weird,” he said. “This is really, really weird.”

“Are you okay?” Virgil asked.

“Yeah, just wasn’t expecting that,” Roman said. He tried to force his legs to push him upright, but they weren’t doing anything. “I can barely move my legs,” he admitted.

“Well, if you never learned to walk with them you won’t have much strength in them,” Virgil said. “I’m going to let you back on the bed, okay?”

“Okay,” Roman said.

Virgil let him down back onto the bed slowly. “Can you wiggle your toes for me?” Virgil asked.

“I mean, I guess?” Roman asked. “How…?”

“Just look at them and think about them wiggling,” Virgil said. “I don’t know how to describe how to do it, but can you try?”

Roman nodded, staring intently at his toes. He thought about flexing them and was surprised when he actually felt the joints bend. “Ah, that’s weird!” Roman exclaimed, shuddering.

“Weird, but promising,” Virgil said. “If you can wiggle your toes, that means you have feeling throughout your legs. And it means we can teach you how to walk, if only you practice.”

“How would I practice?” Roman asked.

Virgil moved Roman’s legs onto the bed and instructed, “Lie on your back.”

“Okay…?” Roman said, doing as he was told.

“Can you move your legs in circles in the air?” Virgil asked.

Roman frowned. “How do you mean?”

“Like, bring your knees closer to your chest and push them out again over and over in circles. Can you do that?”

Roman complied and winced. “This still feel really weird.”

“Hopefully it won’t, soon,” Virgil said. “This is how we’re going to strengthen your legs to get you to stand. And once you can stand, we can work on getting you walking.”

“How many days do we have until we’re back at your kingdom?” Roman asked.

Virgil nibbled his lip. “Not a lot,” he said. “So keep on moving your legs. We have to make every second count.”

Roman nodded and continued to move his legs until they were feeling sore, at which point he laid them down on the bed, groaning. “Oh, that hurts,” he sighed.

“That’s good, that means the muscles are growing,” Virgil said. “It’ll help you a lot to do that frequently. I’ll ask you to do it again before night comes around, but until then, what should we do?”

Roman shrugged. “I don’t know. Is there anything specifically you usually do on these trips?”

“Usually I’d study or read, but I don’t feel like either of those right now when there’s a real-life merman in my bed,” Virgil said dryly. “I’d love to talk to you about life under the sea, though.”

“Well, what do you want to know?” Roman asked.

“How do you breathe, for one thing,” Virgil said. “For another, how many people live around you? Do you have kingdoms like humans do?”

“Well, I can breathe either through a set of gills or my lungs,” Roman said. “I have two respiratory systems, one for underwater and one for above water.”

“Fascinating,” Virgil said.

“As for your other question, mermaids usually live in small communities, mostly by families. We don’t have large kingdoms, but usually the communities are large enough that we’re aware of each other, at the very least.”

“Huh,” Virgil said. “Do you have any suitors where you’re from? You’re rather handsome.”

Roman laughed. “Oh, I wish!” he exclaimed. “No, I haven’t found any boys who have an interest in me, unfortunately. The bad thing about living with families is that everyone immediately around me is related to me in some way. And I got my tail injured by a fisherman’s hook not long ago, so I haven’t been able to swim to many other communities.”

“Ah. I’m sorry,” Virgil said.

“Don’t be,” Roman replied. “After all, my first day out stretching my tail after the injuries I found a crown and met a very dashing prince.”

Virgil turned scarlet and coughed. “Stop it,” he demanded. “Pretty people, human or otherwise, are not allowed to flirt with me. No. Stop.”

Roman laughed. “My intention was not to fluster you,” he said simply. “Apologies that’s what happened.”

Virgil waved off his apology. “It’s fine,” he said.

“So what is your kingdom like?” Roman asked.

“Ah, well. It’s a little bit of a mess at the moment,” Virgil said. “Unrest at the borders, advisors trying to vie their way up the ladder by any means necessary, you name it, it’s been going on. My father sent me to our allies in an attempt to smooth things over diplomatically and keep me safe and away from a majority of the danger. I’m both kind of resentful and grateful for that fact. It’s a mixed bag.”

“I bet,” Roman said with a low whistle. “That sounds rough.”

“Eh, life in the royal court will do that for ya,” Virgil said with a shrug and a laugh. “It’s not a big deal, I’m use to people trying to take advantage of me and my family. Can’t say I’m a _huge_ fan of it, but…”

“Who would be?” Roman asked.

“Who would be,” Virgil confirmed. “It’s definitely…not great, I’ll tell you that much.”

“I can only imagine,” Roman said, shaking his head. “Do you ever question who you can trust?”

“All the time,” Virgil said with a bitter smile.

“So do I,” Roman said. “Not for nearly as dramatic reasons, but because my mother was human, some mermaids are wary of me. They worry that I’m going to turn on them and lead the humans to where we live and kill them all. It’s rather rude, really.”

Virgil snorted. “That’s terrible!” he exclaimed. “I’m sorry.”

“Eh, you get used to it,” Roman said with a shrug. “Nobody really trusting you one-hundred percent, you not trusting anyone else one-hundred percent. Little by little the pain goes away and you wind up more numb to it that anything else. It’s not the end of the world. Just unpleasant for a while.”

Virgil sighed. “Yeah, I know the feeling…”

They sat there in silence for a while, just assessing each other. Roman inwardly sighed. Maybe, just maybe, if Virgil had been someone else, Roman could have been normal friends with him. But if he was the prince of a kingdom, he couldn’t just randomly start being friends, could he? Too many people would ask questions, and it would come out that Roman was half a merman sooner or later.

After some time, Virgil groaned. “I don’t know what I need to tell you in order to make you blend in,” he admitted. “Not many people have a formal education, but enough of them know how to read and write, and know about public affairs from word of mouth. This is going to be difficult.”

“I’m sorry,” Roman said softly.

“No, no, don’t be sorry,” Virgil said. “It’s my stupid actions that mean you’re stuck on this ship for the time being. If anything, _I_ should be the one apologizing.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, you couldn’t have known what the captain was going to do,” Roman said.

“Well, then you have nothing to apologize for either,” Virgil said. “Because I’m more in need of having to apologize than you, and if I don’t have to, then neither do you.”

Roman spent a minute trying to decipher that sentence. “…What?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted. “You don’t have to apologize, is my point, okay?”

“Okay,” Roman said with a nod. “What do we do instead of apologizing?”

They stared at each other for a minute. “I’ve got some games here somewhere,” Virgil said, standing up and moving around. “Do you know any card games?”

“Uh, yeah, some,” Roman agreed. “Mostly poker and gambling games, though.”

“That’s all right, that’s mostly what I know too,” Virgil said. “You up for playing a couple games, though?”

“Sure,” Roman agreed.

Virgil grabbed a card deck and sat on the floor, and Roman moved to the floor as well, sitting with his legs tucked under him as Virgil dealt cards. They talked idly about nothing in particular for a bit, before they decided it could be fun to gamble secrets as wins and losses.

That was fun for a while. Roman learned that Virgil lost his virginity to a man whose name he couldn’t even remember anymore, and Roman divulged that he once turned the most attractive mermaid from the next family over down because he was gay. They went back and forth like this for a while, until Virgil got a royal flush, and laughed. “Ha! Time for you to spill the beans!” he crowed. “Do you have a family?”

Roman paled. That was one question he hadn’t accounted for getting asked. And he was terrified of saying the answer. “Yes,” he said lowly. Much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to respect the rules of the game, and treat Virgil with the dignity and respect he deserved, and that meant he shouldn’t lie. “I have one brother, and my father is still alive. We live with the rest of my father’s family. I won’t say exactly where, because someone could be listening, but I do have a family.”

“Don’t worry, Roman, I’ll make sure no one goes out hunting for them. I’ll take this secret to my grave, if that is what you wish,” Virgil promised.

Roman nodded. “That does make me feel marginally better, thank you.”

Virgil nodded, once, and they moved on. Continuing to play the game, but Roman was more cautious in what secrets he asked, so that Virgil couldn’t retaliate with anything that might endanger Roman or his family should he lose.

They played like this until there was a knock at the door. “Your Highness, it is time for dinner,” the captain said outside the door.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “I’ll be there in a minute! Save some food for me and Roman!”

Roman kept an eye on the door, and it was a good thing he did, because the captain very nearly kicked the door in. “You shouldn’t share your food with that half-breed,” the captain snarled.

“Well, you refuse to fix him a plate, so he’ll continue to share _my_ portion,” Virgil said icily. “And Roman is just as much a person as anyone else. Treat him with respect, will you?”

The captain growled, glowering at Roman. Roman simply scowled back. “I don’t like you any more than you like me, rest assured,” Roman spat at the captain.

“Were it up to me, I’d throw you back in the water and filet your tail for dinner,” the captain shot back.

Roman flinched and Virgil snapped, “Hey!” in response. “That was uncalled for, captain, and you know it. Treat Roman with respect, or don’t come into my room anymore.”

The captain snarled, “You’re making a big mistake, siding with a mer.”

“I don’t think I am,” Virgil said coolly. “I’ll be collecting dinner for myself and Roman in a minute. Until then, you’re free to tell the others that they can eat.”

The captain slammed the door to the room closed and Virgil sighed. “I’m sorry about him,” he said to Roman softly.

“I don’t take offence,” Roman said simply. “I’ll be fine, and he’s not threatening physical harm to me that he can actually follow through with.”

“Yet,” Virgil said darkly, standing up. “I’ll be right back. If anyone comes in while I’m gone, yell like you’re being murdered.”

Roman silently gave Virgil a thumbs-up and Virgil left the room.

While Roman waited for Virgil to come back, he reshuffled the deck of cards once, twice. He did the leg exercise Virgil had wanted him to do earlier and groaned softly when his legs ached. He hadn’t used his legs in years, and now all of a sudden he was expected to just _walk_ on them? It felt terribly unrealistic and unfair. _That’s what you get for talking to humans, though,_ he thought bitterly.

All of a sudden, he froze. His family would be worried about him. They hadn’t heard from him all day, he had no way of contacting them. They would be so worried! Panic filled his system which was almost immediately followed by massive guilt. He didn’t know what he was going to do, this seemed incredibly detrimental. If he didn’t go back to his family, people were sure to talk, and he might get banned from returning without his knowledge. But sailors would be up at all hours of the night, taking care of the ship, so he couldn’t exactly do anything to escape.

Virgil came back in the room with two plates, and Roman arched his eyebrows. “You got two plates?” he asked.

“The cook sided with me over the captain in thinking that you need to eat,” Virgil said simply, placing the plate in front of Roman.

Roman dug into the food and Virgil watched him closely. “Do you think your family is worried about you?” he asked softly.

“If they aren’t already, they will be tomorrow,” Roman said softly. “And I feel bad because I have no way of communicating with them. But there’s nothing I can do. You certainly can’t just toss me over the side without me getting caught again and next time they won’t allow you to see me wherever they lock me up.”

Virgil grumbled. “True,” he allowed. “But you shouldn’t be forced in here all day long. It’s just cruel, and if your family is going to worry about you, that’s no good either.”

Roman sighed. “I’ll get back to them eventually,” he said. “Sooner or later I can get back to them and explain everything, and it’ll all turn out all right.”

Virgil nodded, and the two fell into silence as they both ate. Roman was started to feel tired at the end of a long day, and he yawned. “Do you think you can exercise your legs a bit more before you fall asleep?” Virgil asked.

“I did a little bit while you were getting food,” Roman explained. “And they still feel a bit sore.”

“Another time, then,” Virgil said. “You can practice more tomorrow.”

“All right,” Roman agreed.

Virgil helped Roman up and onto the bed and said, “You can sleep here, if you want.”

“I don’t want to steal your bed,” Roman said hesitantly.

“Nonsense, we can share, can’t we?” Virgil asked. “I’ll go return the plates and then we can rest. We’d want to practice you walking when the captain can’t hear you fall over.”

“Fair enough,” Roman simply said.

Virgil took the plates and left and Roman laid down on the bed, not even registering that he fell asleep. He did realize he had woken up, though, at the creak of Virgil’s door opening. He kept his eyes closed but could feel a warm body against him, which had to be Virgil.

Roman cracked one eye open and looked around, and smelt the unmistakable scent of beer. One of the sailors or the captain was in the room. Roman bolted upright in bed and yelled, “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The figure near the door staggered back and Virgil bolted upright in bed, looking around wildly. He grabbed his crown and scooped Roman up in his arms and ran out the door, to the side of the ship, and tossed Roman into the water before jumping in himself.

Roman’s first surprise was when his tail came back in. He wasn’t even aware that the water had surrounded him until the pants he had been wearing tore as his tail reformed. The second shock was that Virgil had followed him into the water, when, judging by his flailing, he did not know how to swim. The third and final shock, however, came when _Virgil_ formed a tail.

Dragging Virgil under the water, Virgil gasped, before gaping, as apparently he could breathe. He stared at Roman in shock. “What?” his mouth formed the words, but it came out garbled under the water.

Roman didn’t have too much time to be shocked, he simply grabbed Virgil’s hand and helped him swim away from the boat as fast as physically possible.

When they had swam far away enough that they couldn’t see the boat in the dead of night Roman surfaced and Virgil followed, spitting out sea water. “What?!” he asked immediately, face screaming panic. “I didn’t—I’ve never—what?!”

“It’s okay!” Roman exclaimed, putting his hands on Virgil’s shoulders. “Breathe for me. We’ll figure this out. Obviously, someone in your family line was at least _partially_ a mermaid or merman. If you want, we can swim to your kingdom and ask your father about it. But for now, we need to stay quiet so that your captain doesn’t find us, okay?”

Virgil swallowed and nodded. “Where should we…uh…sleep?”

“I don’t know,” Roman admitted. “We might not sleep tonight. How far can you swim?”

“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted. “I’ve never swam before.”

“Okay. We’ll figure that out as we go,” Roman said, looking up at the stars. He pointed through the ocean. “My home is that way. I’ll take you there, explain what’s going on to my father. He might have better answers than I do.”

“Okay…” Virgil breathed. “And he won’t hurt me?”

“I don’t see any reason why he would,” Roman said simply. “Now, my brother is another story entirely.”

“Great!” Virgil said sarcastically.

“Relax, he was supposed to go off to study something at a local University starting yesterday, I doubt he’ll be around,” Roman said simply.

“Still does not make me feel better,” Virgil said, before they dived underwater, swimming in the direction Roman knew was home.

They swam for hours before Roman even remotely recognized where they were, and by this time Virgil was starting to fall asleep. Roman was dragging him along and eventually carried him into the small enclosing of rocks Roman knew was the entrance to his clan’s home. “Roman?! Is that y—who is that and what happened?!” one of his aunts exclaimed.

“Long story, no time,” Roman said. “Tell Dad I’m back and I have some questions but I need to sleep first?”

“Of course, dear, but what—”

But Roman was already swimming to his favorite spot in the water, laying Virgil down to rest in a small bed of seaweed, curled up protectively around him as he fell asleep as well.

When Roman woke up the next morning, it was to something shaking underneath him. His eyes flew open to find Virgil shaking rather violently. “Are you okay?” Roman signed to him. Judging by Virgil’s increased confusion, he had not learned sign language as a child. Roman dragged Virgil to the surface and asked, “Are you okay?” out loud.

“That wasn’t a dream,” Virgil breathed. “Oh god, I thought it was a dream, I don’t know what I’m going to do! What am I going to tell my father?!”

“I hate to break it to you, Virgil, but if you’re his biological kid he probably already knows,” Roman said.

“This is why he never took me to the ocean as a child,” Virgil breathed. “This is why he forced me to shower from a young age. This is why I never learned how to swim! My entire life is a lie!”

“Virgil,” Roman said sternly. “Deep breaths for me, all right? Everything is going to be fine, but I need you to focus.”

Virgil looked like he had swallowed a still-alive fish but nodded.

“Okay,” Roman said. “I can go find my father and hopefully he can explain some things to you better than I can. And we can teach you sign language, so you can speak underwater. Now, learning a language won’t happen overnight, but hopefully you can still know it by…oh…the end of the year? It will help you regardless of whether you decide to stay in the sea or not.”

Virgil still looked like he was about to hyperventilate. “What am I gonna do?!” he asked. “I have no idea how this is going to go, why would my dad never tell me about this, what happened when I was little?”

“That’s a good question,” a new voice said.

Roman turned and sheepishly said, “Hi, Dad. Sorry I didn’t see you when I came back last night, I was pretty exhausted.”

“I figured, I found you out cold in the seaweed,” his dad said dryly. “Mind explaining what happened?”

Roman explained everything, from finding the crown to the escape from the royal ship, and his surprise as Virgil being a merman. His father listened to it all, nodding along. When Roman had finished his explanation, Roman’s father said, “Virgil, may I inspect your tail?”

“I guess,” Virgil agreed.

The three of them went underwater and Roman’s father poked and prodded at Virgil’s tail, which was a pale white gray with black and purple spots. “Just as I thought,” his father signed at Roman. “He’s from the Gaines clan a couple klicks east.”

Roman’s jaw dropped. “He’s the stolen baby from all those years ago?”

“It would appear so,” his father signed.

Roman dragged Virgil to the surface and said, “Virgil, my dad knows your family. I know your family. Your clan is just a couple klicks east. You can go see them, if you want.”

“What?” Virgil asked.

“Years and years ago, there was a half-merman child between a human man and a mermaid. Around the time that I was born. But by the time I was two, he had been stolen by humans and no one had seen hide or hair of him across the sea. But your markings are from that clan.”

Virgil’s eyes widened. “My father…stole me as a child?”

“It looks like it,” Roman said. “But your mother is still alive and well, I’ve spoken with her. I don’t know who her lover was, and it could very well have been the king, but I doubt it.”

“But…my mother…is alive?” Virgil asked, dazed.

“Yeah,” Roman said, grinning. “Would you like to meet her?”

“Please?” Virgil asked, voice small.

Roman nodded and swam towards the Gaines clan, Virgil following hesitantly but hopeful all the same. As the got to the edge of the clan’s territory, Roman could see a few of the kids playing around. He waved his arms and signed, “Can you grab Taylor?”

One of the kids looked behind Roman, saw Virgil, and his eyes widened as he nodded and swam off. Virgil and Roman surfaced and Virgil was nervously asking questions. “Are you sure this is where I’m from?” he asked. “And is my mother nice? What if she doesn’t want to see me?”

“Virgil, your mother is the sweetest mermaid I know,” Roman assured. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.”

Virgil nodded. “If you say so…”

A few feet away, a head popped above the water and a woman said, “Roman? You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, Miss Taylor,” Roman said. “Long story short, I…uh…I think I found your son.”

The woman frowned, moving closer, and looking at Virgil. She went underwater and circled Virgil, and when she surfaced again, she was as pale as a ghost. “Baby?” she asked, voice soft and sounding almost terrified.

“Uh…hi…” Virgil said softly. “I’m afraid I don’t remember you, but…”

He didn’t get a chance to finish, as Taylor had wrapped her arms around Virgil and crushed him in a hug. “Oh, my baby!” she exclaimed. “I would recognize that voice anywhere, you sound just like your father!”

Virgil stared at Roman with wide eyes, and Roman was beaming. Taylor held Virgil at arm’s length and she turned to Roman. “Where did you find him?” she asked.

So Roman told the whole story over again, from the crown to the boat to their escape. Taylor cried through the whole thing and never let go of Virgil, who just floated there in shock.

“Your father was the royal advisor to the king,” Taylor told Virgil. “When the king realized that he and his queen couldn’t have children, he ordered you to be brought to him. Your father took you away in the middle of the night, and when we tried to approach the kingdom to get you back, we were sent away with a threat that the next time we came close to the kingdom, we would not be returning home. Oh, baby, I’m so sorry!”

Virgil himself started to cry. “But…but here, Roman said everyone lives in families?”

“Yes, everyone who lives here is either related to you or married to someone who is,” Taylor said with a grin. “You have so much family who would love to see you again!”

Virgil offered Taylor a grin. “I don’t know sign language, but I’m willing to learn, and I’d love to live here, if you’d have me.”

“Oh, of course!” Taylor exclaimed, hugging Virgil again.

Roman grinned at the sight, before his eyes caught something on the horizon. Boats. “We’ve got company,” he said, pointing.

Virgil paled. “That’s the flag of my country,” he breathed. “The captain must have gotten word back to my fa—the king.”

“Don’t worry, baby, we won’t let you go again if you don’t want to,” Taylor said.

“I don’t want to. I want to stay here, get to know my _real_ family,” Virgil said. “I don’t want to be known as the son of someone who steals babies from their cradles in the dead of night.”

Taylor sang a war cry and soon every adult mermaid in the Gaines clan had surfaced. “Everyone!” she exclaimed. “My child has been brought back to me! The humans who stole him want him back, but we must make sure that doesn’t happen! Who is willing to fight?!”

A loud uproar sounded from all around them and Virgil looked stunned. “You’ll all fight…for me?” he asked in shock.

“Of course, baby, you’re family,” Taylor said. She turned to the other mermaids. “Battle formations, everyone!”

And at once, all of them swam towards the boats. Virgil and Roman watched as the fight took place. The humans didn’t stand a chance against the enraged mermaids, and soon the boats were sailing away as fast as they could with damages done at all angles, and with a message to not come back again.

Virgil was in shock as everyone in his family came up and reintroduced themselves, and Roman sat by, making sure, that Virgil was going to be okay. When eveyone had returned to their daily activities, save for Taylor, Roman, and Virgil, Roman and Virgil looked at each other. “I’ll teach you sign if you can teach me how to walk?” Roman offered.

“…Sounds good to me,” Virgil agreed. “And you live just a few klicks west?”

“Yep,” Roman said. “Any time you want to come over to talk, or practice, or even flirt, I’ll be around.”

“Thank you, Roman, truly,” Taylor said. “Virgil? Would you like to come home with me?”

“I’d like that a lot,” Virgil said shyly.

“Roman, you should come too,” Taylor declared. “My son and his savior. You both can have breakfast and we can talk about what happens from here on out, sound good?”

“Sounds perfect,” Roman said, and Virgil nodded.

They swam to Taylor’s home, where she pulled out some fish and offered it to the boys. Virgil made a face at the texture but admitted it didn’t taste half bad, and Roman laughed. Virgil still had the crown with him from when they had fled the boat, and Roman wondered what that might mean. If Virgil was a merman _and_ still the crown prince of a human kingdom, how would everyone react? Would Virgil go back and unite the two species? Would Virgil even want to address any of these questions?

Watching Virgil just stare at his mother in shock, Roman decided to save those questions for a later day. Virgil could answer in his own time. Roman would be there whatever Virgil would decide.

**Author's Note:**

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